Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Laemaker representing Degema/Bonny Constituency in the House of Representatives, Doctor Farah Dagogo, has described as worrisome, the announcement by the Federal Government that the country’s Excess Crude Account has depleted from $2.1 billion in 2015 to $60 million in 2021.
Recall that the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Mr. Clem Agba, during the National Economic Council meeting at the State House in Abuja recently, said that the ECA as at 13th October 2021 stands at $60, 857,773.43.
Similarly, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, in a statement by his media aide, Laolu Akande, on Friday quoted the Minister, as saying “Excess Crude Account balance as at 13th October 2021 stands at $60, 857,773.43;
“Stabilisation Account, balance as at 13th October stands at N25,009,892,511.55; Development of Natural Resources Account balance as at 13th October 2021 stands at N56,144,024,000.71. ”
But reacting to the figures, Dagogo wondered the justification on how such humongous amount of money was expended while the masses in the country, especially the Niger Delta region, where the revenue comes in from, are still in a perilous state.
The Rivers lawmaker said the depletion of the funds without anything tangible to show was unacceptable and abhorrent to people of good conscience.
He maintained that the purpose of establishing the Excess Crude Account has been defeated.
“Today in Nigeria, the cost of living has risen astromically. We were in paradise in 2015 if we were to make a comparative analysis of what was applicable then and now as to what majority of the masses are facing and passing through daily.
“To feed a day in Nigeria is akin to the dromedary camel passing through the eyes of a needle. Yet, we hear mind boggling depletion of our common wealth with nothing tangible to show for it.
“For clarity, the purpose of the Excess Crude Account that was set up in 2004, which later metamorphosed to Sovereign Wealth Fund in 2011, has been clearly defeated.
“The three cardinal objectives of ECA was for supporting the budget in times of economic stress, including to hedge against volatile crude oil prices; to save for future generations of Nigerians; to invest in domestic infrastructure; now has any of them being met?
“The answer is a capital no, and it is unacceptable to the people of my region, whom semantically speaking, are the goose that laid the golden eggs that is being pilfered unhindered.
“I strongly believe that this daylight stealing and mismanagement should be a grave concern and abhorrent to people of good conscience,” the Lawmaker maintained.
